Caregiver allegedly steals $250,000 cash from Torrance stroke victim

A caregiver allegedly stole $250,000 from an elderly stroke victim from Torrance and then bought several cars as he made his way to Mississippi, police said Monday.

James Lerorn Rias, 52, is scheduled to be arraigned July 22 in Torrance Superior Court on charges of elder abuse and residential burglary.

The 68-year-old victim kept the money in a beige bag in a safe in his home after withdrawing it when his bank failed, police said. He never deposited the money into another bank.

The theft occurred in April, not long after the victim returned to a hospital.

"The victim has lost everything and is very distraught and emotional about this situation," Torrance police Sgt. Robert Watt said.

The victim was among hundreds of South Bay residents who in July 2008 lined up at IndyMac Bank branches in Torrance and Manhattan Beach to withdraw their money amid news that federal regulators had taken over the failed thrift. Many people at the time said they were not satisfied with assurances from federal regulators that deposits up to $100,000 would be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Earlier this year, the victim suffered a stroke and was hospitalized at the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, where Rias worked there as a caregiver.

When it came time for the victim to be released to his home on 173rd Place in Torrance in March, Rias convinced the victim to hire him to provide live-in care, Watt said.

The victim told Rias about the money in case he needed to buy things for him. Almost immediately, hundreds of dollars that the victim kept in his wallet started to disappear, Watt said.

In April, the victim became ill and was readmitted to a hospital.

"He was concerned about the security of his cash so he sent a longtime friend to check his residence," Watt said. "She observed the house appeared to be burglarized and that his whole life savings was missing, and Rias was in the wind."

Torrance detectives were able to track Rias because he made several vehicle purchases in California, Texas and Mississippi. The vehicles included a pickup and a 2014 Ford Mustang.

Police found Rias in Drew, Miss., where he was taken into custody. Rias waived the extradition process in Sunflower County and was returned to Los Angeles County on June 20. He is held at county jail on $150,000 bail.

Detectives are working to find out what happened to the rest of the money.

"His alibi is that he won the lottery," Watt said.

Rias did win $89,000 in the California lottery in March 2011, Watt said.

The victim's name, health and financial status were not available.

Watt said large sums of money must be kept in bank and credit union accounts because they are proven to be safe.

"This is a case of someone who doesn't trust banks and there is no reason not to," Watt said.

FDIC officials tried to reassure the public in 2008 when it took over IndyMac Bank that their accounts were safe. IndyMac was in trouble because of subprime mortgages it had with people with bad or no credit history, and was taken over during a run on deposits. The federal Office of Thrift Supervision reported that $1.9 billion in consumer deposits were withdrawn.

Many people, however, said they did not trust the government with their money.

The theft is the second major amount of cash taken from a local victim in recent months. In June, a San Pedro bartender who saved nearly $178,000 in tips and had kept them in a closet at his home, lost the money to a burglar.